On the Sheng family's side, they lit candles, tidied up the house, washed up, and then went back to their rooms to rest.
At the other end of the new house, things were finally quiet. Sheng Xiping lit a red candle, dripped some wax onto the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and then sat the candle on it.
What's that old saying again? When you look at a beautiful woman under the lamp, even if she's not conventionally pretty, she'll still look charming.
Under the dim candlelight, the new bride, dressed in red, had gentle and tender eyes that added to her charm, making her even more captivating.
Sheng Xiping sat down next to Zhou Qinglan, reached out and took Zhou Qinglan's hand, and pulled her into his arms.
"Qinglan, you've finally married me and become my wife," Sheng Xiping exclaimed.
Zhou Qinglan's body went limp, and she leaned against Sheng Xiping's chest, letting out a soft "Mmm".
On their wedding night, the girl he had longed for finally became his wife. With her soft, fragrant body in his arms, who could resist?
Sheng Xiping had a sudden thought and lowered his head to kiss Zhou Qinglan's red lips.
Suddenly, a faint sound seemed to come from inside. Sheng Xiping's expression tightened, he released Zhou Qinglan, and went to open the door.
Both the east and west doors open inwards. Sheng Xiping had locked the doors from the inside, and now they've been opened like this.
Two cries of "Ouch!" were heard, and Sheng Xikang, Sheng Xitai, Sheng Yunfang, and Sheng Yunfei rolled in from outside.
"Ahem, big brother, well, they told us to listen to what big brother and sister-in-law are saying outside the window of the new house at night."
Caught red-handed by the window, Sheng Xitai coughed a few times, somewhat embarrassed, and explained.
Listening to whispers through the window is one of the ways to tease someone during their wedding night.
It's usually the husband's younger sisters and brothers who hide under the window, outside the door, or even in the closet of the new house, listening to what the newlyweds say at night.
There are some careless young couples who are so engrossed in their intimacy on their wedding night that they don't even notice that there are other people around.
The couple's private conversations were all overheard by others.
Some people are meticulous and will carefully check the inside and outside of the house before going to bed to prevent anyone from causing trouble.
Sheng Xiping knew a little about customs, but he didn't think about it in this way.
When I got married in my past life, my younger siblings were all grown up, while my nephews and nieces were still little. Back then, it wasn't common to eavesdrop on other people's conversations.
In Sheng Xiping's mind, his younger siblings were all quite afraid of him, and ever since Zhou Qinglan became a teacher, they were even more afraid of their sister-in-law.
Judging from their usual behavior, they shouldn't have the guts to cause trouble.
Unexpectedly, a moment of carelessness almost allowed those mischievous kids to eavesdrop through the window and succeed.
At this moment, Sheng Xiping was both amused and exasperated. "You bunch of scoundrels, what are you capable of doing? Where's the second brother?"
With only these four, and no sign of the second brother, Sheng Xiping was unsure where the brat had gone.
"Brother, this isn't my fault. I warned them, but they wouldn't listen."
Upon hearing his elder brother call his name, Sheng Xi'an immediately came out of the east room, spread his hands, and indicated that he was innocent.
Despite his usual dull and bookish demeanor, Sheng Xi'an is quite shrewd when it comes to this.
"I told you long ago, our eldest brother has sharp ears. You guys will definitely be caught if you try to eavesdrop by the window, okay?"
Sheng Xi'an glanced at her four younger siblings, a look of schadenfreude on her face.
"We didn't make a sound, so how did Big Brother hear us?" Sheng Yunfang pouted and muttered in frustration.
"Alright, aren't you going back to sleep? You have class tomorrow."
At the other end of the east room, Zhang Shuzhen, both amused and exasperated, called the children back to their rooms to rest.
She hadn't paid much attention to those sneaky kids who came out earlier, assuming they were just out for a stroll because they'd eaten too much. Little did she know they were actually trying to sneak around and eavesdrop.
Sheng Xikang and the others were feeling awkward, but upon hearing their mother's words, they quickly went back to the east room to rest. Meanwhile, Sheng Xiping also locked the door again and went back to the kang (heated brick bed).
The curtains had been drawn long ago, and now they would also draw the canopy in front of the kang (a heated brick bed), blow out the candles on the edge of the kang, and embrace their wives to spend their wedding night together.
That night, the north wind howled and blew through the grass, the peach blossoms were too delicate to be broken, their shadows were hazy, and after the rain, the withered flowers fell to the ground red.
On the morning of the 10th, Zhang Shuzhen got up as soon as the rooster crowed for the second time.
She didn't dare make a big fuss, so she quietly carried firewood into the house, lit a fire to cook porridge, and then heated up the steamed buns and the leftover vegetables from yesterday into the pot.
It was past 6:30 when Zhang Shuzhen gently knocked on the door of the west room.
"Xiping, get up when you should. Aren't you going to take a car back to Songjianghe later?"
"Quickly call your father-in-law and the others over, have a meal, and get ready so they don't miss their train."
She didn't want to call her son and daughter-in-law; they'd all been through it all, and everyone understood those things.
If there's nothing urgent, the young couple can sleep until dawn without anyone bothering them, but isn't it still necessary for them to go back to their parents' home for the wedding?
On the kang (heated brick bed) in the west room, Sheng Xiping was fast asleep, his wife embracing him.
The two of them were quite active last night, and didn't fall asleep until midnight. They didn't hear the roosters crowing or anything outside.
Zhang Shuzhen knocked on the door twice before Sheng Xiping woke up. He turned around, grabbed his watch, and exclaimed, "Oh dear, it's almost seven o'clock!"
"Honey, get up. It's getting late. We need to eat and pack our things. We still have to go back to Songjianghe later."
Zhou Qinglan was fast asleep and didn't hear what Sheng Xiping said. She just hummed and buried her face in Sheng Xiping's chest before continuing to sleep.
Sheng Xiping smiled helplessly and lowered his head to kiss his wife's fair and tender cheek.
"Come on, get up, or we'll miss the little train home."
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